First pick
Mindszenty Park
Park or garden
0.3 ha
1.3 km north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.067%near a park
Outdoors in Castleblayney · parks, paths & countryside
7 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Castleblayney
A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 67% of residents. Parks and playing fields in Castleblayney add up to 1.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1. 14 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 1.0 for every square kilometre.
Near a park
67%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
1.9 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
14 km
1.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Woodland
3.8%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Against other towns
How Castleblayney compares with Irish towns
Each figure against Ireland’s 321 towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (city hubs left out): the marked bar is the town’s, the line the median. Ireland has no Outdoors Grade yet: the figures are described, each against other Irish towns, and none of them counts towards the overall grade.
A park within a walk67%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
17out of 100
Public green space1.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
22out of 100
Footpaths1.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
28out of 100
Protected for nature0%of the land within 5 km
11out of 100
Woodland3.8%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
63out of 100
Parks, paths and woods: OpenStreetMap; residents: CSO Census 2022 Small Areas; protected sites: NPWS; sea: CSO and ONS land outlines. A 0 means nothing is mapped.
Towns its size
Castleblayney has the 12th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (3,398 to 4,569 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Gurranebraher (7.4 km per km²) to Charleville (0 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Castleblayney1.0
Towns its size1.6
Co. Monaghan towns1.0
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Castleblayney1.9
Towns its size4.5
Co. Monaghan towns1.4
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Castleblayney67%
Towns its size84%
Co. Monaghan towns67%
Typical Irish town92%
Castleblayney falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 33 of the 39 others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gurranebraher Cork | 7.4 | 1.6% | 0.5% | – |
| 2 | Shandon Cork | 7.3 | 1.9% | 0.9% | – |
| 3 | Ballyfermot Dublin | 6.8 | 8.7% | 0% | – |
| 4 | Cork City Centre Cork | 6.7 | 1.5% | 1.8% | – |
| 5 | St Luke's Cork | 6 | 3.5% | 2.8% | – |
| 6 | Farranree Cork | 6 | 3% | 0.5% | – |
| 7 | Montenotte Cork | 5.5 | 5.6% | 3.5% | – |
| 8 | Newcastle Galway | 5.4 | 1.7% | 15% | 29% |
| 9 | Shanakiel Cork | 5.3 | 5.7% | 0.1% | – |
| 10 | Mervue Galway | 4.3 | 3.6% | 11% | 25% |
| 11 | Tivoli Cork | 4 | 7% | 4.8% | – |
| 12 | Prospect and Newtown Pery Limerick | 3.6 | 1.5% | 9.9% | – |
| 13 | Limerick City Centre Limerick | 3.5 | 1% | 11% | – |
| 14 | Rahoon Galway | 2.3 | 2.3% | 27% | 20% |
| 15 | Annacotty Limerick | 2 | 2% | 6.2% | – |
| 16 | Castlegar Galway | 1.8 | 1.4% | 16% | 16% |
| 17 | Rathbane Limerick | 1.8 | 1.1% | 6% | – |
| 18 | Ballinacurra Limerick | 1.8 | 1.4% | 11% | – |
| 19 | Glanmire Cork | 1.7 | 13% | 6.6% | – |
| 20 | Westbury Clare | 1.7 | 3.3% | 9.6% | – |
| 21 | Kilcoole Wicklow | 1.5 | 4.3% | 5.8% | 37% |
| 22 | Rathnew Wicklow | 1.2 | 1.3% | 3.9% | 17% |
| 23 | Cleaboy Waterford | 1.2 | 0% | 5.8% | – |
| 24 | Lehenagh Cork | 1.2 | 2.5% | 0.3% | – |
| 25 | Newcastle Dublin | 1.1 | 0.9% | 0% | – |
| 26 | Enfield Meath | 1.1 | 3.9% | 0% | – |
| 27 | Grange Waterford | 1 | 0.8% | 5% | – |
| 28 | Cahir Tipperary | 1 | 7.5% | 3.4% | – |
| 29 | Castleblayney Monaghan | 1 | 3.8% | 0% | – |
| 30 | Riverstown Cork | 0.8 | 14% | 2.9% | – |
| 31 | Kilcullen Kildare | 0.8 | 5.3% | 0% | – |
| 32 | Kill Kildare | 0.8 | 2.1% | 0% | – |
| 33 | Newtownmountkennedy Wicklow | 0.6 | 12% | 4.9% | 6.2% |
| 34 | Courtown Wexford | 0.6 | 8.6% | 0% | 37% |
| 35 | Claremorris Mayo | 0.4 | 7.1% | 0% | – |
| 36 | Macroom Cork | 0.4 | 4.9% | 3.9% | – |
| 37 | Mitchelstown Cork | 0.3 | 0% | 0% | – |
| 38 | Stamullen Meath | 0.3 | 1.7% | 0.5% | 12% |
| 39 | Clara Offaly | 0.2 | 6.1% | 6.4% | – |
| 40 | Charleville Cork | 0 | 0.3% | 0.2% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Castleblayney’s urban area.
Green: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces and woods, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · NPWS · Sport Ireland · CSO
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Castleblayney
The biggest is Mindszenty Park, 0.3 ha (1 acres).
Named parks, gardens, commons and woods in the town or within 400 m of it, from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); pieces of one name that touch are one place. Sizes are the whole site; directions go to a point inside.
Close to home
7 in 10 Castleblayney residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (CSO Census 2022 Small Areas against OpenStreetMap).
Within 400 m (67%)Further (33%)
Castleblayney67%
Co. Monaghan towns67%
Typical Irish town92%
About 1,300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
No protected site lies within 5 km of Castleblayney
Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and Natural Heritage Areas designated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, within 5 km of the town’s edge.
No site protected for nature lies within 5 km of Castleblayney.
National Parks
Wicklow Mountains National Park is 99 km away
Ireland’s National Parks within 100 km, and the nearest always, by direction and distance from the town’s edge; circle size shows each park’s area.
National ParkThe 5 km around the town
National Park
Wicklow Mountains National Park
99 km south223 km²
National Park boundaries: National Parks and Wildlife Service, generalised to 50 m (CC BY 4.0, © Government of Ireland), 2022. Distances from the town’s outline (CSO Small Areas).
Footpaths and woods
14 km of footpaths cross Castleblayney
Footways that aren’t pavements, paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, and mapped woods and forest, in the town and 1 km around it, each beside the county’s and Ireland’s typical town of 2,500+.
Footpaths
14 km
over 14.8 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
3.8%
about 0.6 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
7
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CastleblayneyCo. Monaghan townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths1
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CastleblayneyCo. Monaghan townsTypical Irish town
Woodland3.8%
0%50%100%
Castleblayney has less footpath per km² than 72% of Irish towns and more woodland than 63% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
7 waymarked trails start near Castleblayney
14 km of footpaths are mapped in Castleblayney and the kilometre around it, 1.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Walking trailLong-distance way
Siúlán an Oileáin Dhuibh - Black Island Walk2.0 km
Siúlán an Chloigín Ghoirm - Bluebell Walk0.5 km
An Bóthar Ard - The High Road1.0 km
Siúlán Cois Cladaigh - The Shoreline Walk1.5 km
Siúlán McBride - McBride's Walk1.0 km
Monaghan Way17.8 km
Monaghan Way - Toome Loop4.1 km
Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0), registered trails within 5 km; footpaths: OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Coillte’s own forest trails and recreation sites aren’t included: Coillte’s terms limit its data to research or private study. Its trails on the National Trails Register are listed.
History
One historic park or garden on the record in Castleblayney
Parks, gardens, walled gardens and demesne walls in the town on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, each with its record.
Walled gardenHope Castlefrom 1795Regional rating (NIAH)
The oldest dated is Hope Castle, from 1795.
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0).
When to get out
The best walking months in Castleblayney: May to September
Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages for the town’s 1 km square and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 15 to 30 °C and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 7.9 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 17.1 | 16.6 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 7.4 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 100 | 82 | 77 | 70 | 70 | 72 | 84 | 93 | 78 | 104 | 107 | 110 |
May is the driest month (70 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.4 hours of daylight in December, and 110 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. The climate in Castleblayney →
Things to do
1 viewpoint and 1 hill or peak
Mapped on OpenStreetMap in the town and 2 km around it; each count per resident beside Irish towns’ typical town of 2,500+. Beaches are on the coast’s list, from the EPA.
The highest named top on the map is Dairy Hill, at 110 m, 1.5 km from town.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 1
Dairy Hill110 m · 1.5 km from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 4
Plus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Next door
Next to Castleblayney
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
BallybayCarrickmacrossCastleblayney
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
| Town | Near a park | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Paths (km/km²) | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castleblayney | 67% | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0% |
| Ballybay 10 km | 100% | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0% |
| Carrickmacross 16 km | 64% | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0% |
In Ballybay, 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Green space nearby. The share of residents (CSO Small Areas, by where people live) within 400 m of a park, garden, common or playing field mapped on OpenStreetMap. Mapping is uneven: a town whose parks nobody has mapped looks greyer than it is.
- Protected areas. Land in a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area or Natural Heritage Area within 5 km, overlaps counted once. Protected for nature doesn’t always mean open to walkers.
- Footpaths and hiking routes. Footways that aren’t pavements, paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, in the town and 1 km around it, from OpenStreetMap. Trails are the registered ones within 5 km; a trail often follows mapped paths, so the two aren’t added.
- Woodland. Woods and forest as OpenStreetMap maps them, private and Coillte forests included: mapped cover, not access.
- No grade yet. Ireland’s grades don’t include the outdoors yet: these figures describe the town and stand beside the median Irish town.
Questions about the outdoors in Castleblayney
What is the biggest park in Castleblayney?
Mindszenty Park, 0.3 ha (1 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
What are the best walks near Castleblayney?
7 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Siúlán an Oileáin Dhuibh - Black Island Walk, Siúlán an Chloigín Ghoirm - Bluebell Walk and An Bóthar Ard - The High Road.
How many people in Castleblayney live near a park?
67% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a park or playing field; in the typical Irish town it is 92%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Castleblayney?
On the town’s 1991–2020 averages and its daylight: May to September, when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light for the place.
Is Castleblayney near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 99 km south of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Castleblayney?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 1 viewpoint and 1 hill or peak; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Which parks in Castleblayney are historic?
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records one historic park, garden or demesne in the town: Hope Castle.
Sources
Where Castleblayney’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks, woods and paths. OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): parks, woods and footpaths, Geofabrik extract, October 2026
- Protected sites. National Parks and Wildlife Service: designated sites (SAC, SPA, NHA), 2026
- Trails. Sport Ireland: National Trails Register, 2026
- Residents. CSO: Census 2022 Small Areas (residents)
- National Parks. National Parks and Wildlife Service: National Park boundaries, generalised to 50 m (CC BY 4.0), 2022
- Things to do. OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): viewpoints, hills, waterfalls, nature reserves, picnic sites, playgrounds, campsites and waymarked walks, Geofabrik extract, October 2026
- Historic parks and gardens. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (CC BY 4.0)
- Weather. Met Éireann: 1991–2020 averages (Copyright Met Éireann)
Protected sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service (CC BY 4.0). Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0). Bathing water: EPA (CC BY 4.0). Parks, woods and paths: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Not on this page yet: Coillte’s forest trails (its terms) and bike routes.
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).